Protocol Meeting of Slavicists/Eurasia Specialists of Mongolia with ICCEES Vice-President K. Matsuzato

Transcription

1 Protocol Meeting of Slavicists/Eurasia Specialists of Mongolia with ICCEES Vice-President K. Matsuzato This meeting was held on November 4, 2012 (Sunday), 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., at Academy of Sciences Building No. 2, Baruun Selbe Street, 15, Chingeletei District, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. L. Khaisandai, Director of the Institute of International Studies, Mongolian Academy of Sciences (IIS, MAS), moderated the meeting, which was held in Russian and Mongolian. This protocol was finalized by the participants of the meeting. Participants from Mongolia: 1. L. Khaisandai, Director of the Institute of International Studies, Mongolian Academy of Sciences (IIS, MAS) 2. O. Batsaikhan, Director of the Russian Studies Sector, IIS, MAS 3. Ts. Sarantsatsral, Institute of International Relations, National University of Mongolia (NUM) 4. D. Dolgorsuren, Institute of Social Sciences, NUM 5. Kh. Bayarmaa, National University of Education 6. N. Nansalmaa, Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures, NUM 7. Zh. Orkhon, IIS, MAS 8. Kh. Mandukhai, IIS, MAS 9. D. Enkhjargal, Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures, NUM 10. Ts. Tsogzolmaa, Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures, NUM 11. K. A. Siwoczyk, Lecturer, NUM (University of Silesia, Poland) 12. D. Otgonchimeg, Institute of International Relations, NUM 13. Zh. Altangerel, Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures, NUM 14. B. Demberel, Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures, NUM 15. D. Ayush, Institute of International Relations, NUM 16. K. Demberel, IIS, MAS 17. D. Altai, IIS, MAS 18. Ch. Choisamba, Institute of Social Sciences, NUM From Japan: Kimitaka Matsuzato, ICCEES Vice-President, Professor of the Slavic Research Center, Hokkaido University 1

2 Tatsuo Nakami, Professor of the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Presentation K. Matsuzato expressed his sincere gratitude to his Mongolian colleagues, who gathered on Sunday morning, and briefly explained the history and missions of ICCEES, as well as the benefits to and the obligations of its member organizations. On behalf of ICCEES, Professor Matsuzato made three proposals addressed to Slavicists/Eurasia specialists of Mongolia. The first proposal was to create a national association of Slavicists/Eurasia specialists of Mongolia, and apply for ICCEES membership. Considering the rich historiography and potential of Slavic Eurasian studies in Mongolia, Mongolian Slavicists current somewhat isolated situation is a great loss not only for Mongolia s own but also the world s Slavicist community. Because of the lack of a national association, Slavicists of Mongolia do not have a representative on the ICCEES Council and information on important international events does not reach Mongolia; therefore, we have not seen any active participation from Mongolia in these events. Professor Matsuzato explained that ICCEES recognizes two ways to create national associations: an individual membership organization and a confederation of Slavicist institutes/departments. Professor Matsuzato asked his Mongolian 2

3 colleagues to adopt a charter of their national association and apply for ICCEES membership by July 2013, because on August 5-7, 2013, the next ICCEES Council meeting will be held in Makuhari, which will no doubt include Mongolia s membership issue in its primary agenda. The second proposal was to promote as many participations from Mongolia in the coming ICCEES World Congress to be held in Makuhari in August The third was to invite Mongolian colleagues to the Fifth East Asian Conference for Slavic Eurasian Studies (ICCEES Asian Congress) held in Osaka on August 9-10, Professor Matsuzato added that an ideal scenario for Mongolia would seem to be recognition as an ICCEES member country by the ICCEES Council to meet in early August, and to demonstrate their academic potential in Osaka on August 9-10, Discussion N. Nansalmaia (Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures, NUM) explained that the Slavicist Department of National University of Mongolia celebrated the twentieth anniversary of its creation, and described its research and educational activities. T. Nakami (Professor of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies) said that Mongolia specialists of Japan understandably visit Mongolia very often, but it is a rare case for a Japanese Slavicist (Professor Matsuzato) to visit Mongolia. Mongolia should try harder to be included in the Slavicist community of Asia. Since there is a direct flight between Ulaanbaatar and Narita, Makuhari is an excellent venue for Mongolian Slavicists/Eurasia specialists to participate in the World Congress of L. Khaisandai (Director of the IIS, MAS) briefly described the history of his institute. The predecessor of the institute, the Institute of Oriental Studies, MAS, was established in 1968 and mainly focused on China studies. Since the late 1980s, the institute expanded its target areas and came to its present structure in Presently, IIS is composed of seven sectors targeting Russia, China, Japan, US and Canada, Central Asia, Korea and South Asia, and Europe. Around the institute there are several centers (for German, Japanese, Korean, Indian, and Slavic studies), operating on self-financing principles and procuring human and financial resources from outside, for example, embassies and NGOs of the target countries. IIS actively publishes journals and collections and organizes international conferences. Ts. Sarantsatsral (Institute of International Relations, NUM) asked Professor Matsuzato about the main concepts of the Makuhari and Osaka Congresses. She asked whether there are any preferential research orientations of ICCEES. Except for world congresses, the main mission of ICCEES, what kind of research projects does ICCEES conduct? Does participation in a world congress promote 3

4 publication of papers? Can we expect grants for promoting participation in world congresses? Professor Matsuzato replied: Makuhari Where Many Wests Meet Many Easts and : A Lost Century or a Great Experiment for Eurasia? respectively. ICCEES is an organization aimed at area studies, so there is no preference between academic disciplines. Unfortunately, there are no constant research projects promoted by ICCEES except for world congresses, but regional (European and Asian) congresses can be regarded as projects aimed to fill intermediary periods between world congresses. There is the idea that the ICCEES world congresses should be held more often than every five years. The editors confirmed by the ICCEES Executive Committee publish more than ten volumes of collections after each world congress, mainly based on congress papers. For example, I am editing a collection focused on modern diplomatic history in East Asia, mainly based on papers presented at the Stockholm Congress in The principle of participation in world and regional congresses is self-financing. In 2000, the European Commission generously sponsored the ICCEES World Congress in Tampere, so its Organizing Committee was able to provide grants to more than three hundred participants from the former Soviet Bloc. The European Commission did not repeat this generosity in regard to the ICCEES World Congress in Berlin in 2005, so the number of those benefitting had decreased to a few more than one hundred. There is a debate about the category of those who benefit regarding whether we should limit it to colleagues from the former Soviet Bloc or whether we should promote the participation of young scholars without geographical discrimination. B. Demberel (IIS, MAS) argued that the national association should not serve solely the internationalization of Slavic/Eurasia studies of Mongolia. There are a number of domestic roles that it should play. For example, it may establish a new journal. N. Nansalmaa (Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures, NUM) echoed Demberel s opinion. For example, the NUM s Center for Czech Studies was founded in 1992 thanks to a grant from the Czech Republic. The national association may intermediate between the grant-givers and our research community. A serious problem for education in Slavic languages at universities is that the job market in Mongolia for those who know Russian and other Slavic languages shrank after 1991 and many graduates from Slavicist faculties are facing difficulties in finding a job. The national association might be able to appeal to the public on this matter. D. Otgonchimeg (Institute of International Relations, NUM) stated that recently, Slavic Eurasian studies in Mongolia is paying all the more attention to economics in Russia, and asked about the balance between disciplines in other ICCEES member countries. Professor Matsuzato replied that 4

5 the balance between disciplines varies from country to country. In China, many economists study Russia, but in many other countries, economists do not seem to weigh much in the Slavicist community in terms of the number of scholars. Resolution: The meeting unanimously supports three proposals made by the ICCEES Vice-President. Slavicists/Eurasia specialists of Mongolia will establish a national association, considering ICCEES requirements. Slavicists/Eurasia specialists of Mongolia prefer the form of a confederation of institutes, the components of which should be IIS (MAS), the Institute of International Relations (NUM), Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures (NUM), National University of Education, and Ulaanbaatar University. IIS, MAS, will coordinate this process, while Slavic institutes of Mongolia will preserve their uniqueness. We will establish a working group to elaborate the charter of the national association, which should be confirmed by the second meeting of Slavicists/Eurasia specialists of Mongolia to be held on December 1, 2012, and the charter (with its English translation) and a letter seeking accession will be submitted to ICCEES in early The meeting appoints as members of the working group: B. Demberel (Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures, NUM), D. Otgonchimeg (Institute of International Relations, NUM), Ts. Sarantsatsral (Institute of International Relations, NUM), Zh. Altangerel (Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures, NUM), and Ch. Choisamba (Institute of Social Sciences, NUM). 5